Oklahoma Mayors Attend 91st Annual Winter Meeting Held In Washington DC

Hundreds of mayors from across the country, including two from Oklahoma, are in Washington this week meeting with each other and with federal officials to try and improve life for their constituents.

It's the 91st annual Winter Meeting of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, held each January in the nation's capital.

The mayors who attend discuss legislative priorities, the implementation of legislation that’s become law, and often get special opportunities they might not otherwise have.

"I mean, just this morning I spent an hour with seven other mayors meeting with the secretary of state," said Oklahoma City Mayor David Holt, a USCM trustee.

Mayor Holt said he talked with Blinken about the $35 million federal grant the city was awarded last September to bolster biopharmaceutical manufacturing and thus lessen dependence on China; he also told him about Mexico's plans to open a consulate in Oklahoma City and the fact the Guatemala already has one.

"And I think he was very interested to hear all of that," said Holt in an interview Wednesday, "and to hear of our growth and the rising level of engagement we’re having at the diplomatic level."

The three-day meeting features dozens of sessions on difficult issues cities are grappling with, as well as sessions on how to access federal dollars that have been made available in recent years through legislation.

"We got direct funding through the CARES Act, which was signed by President Trump, and then we got direct funding through ARPA (American Rescue Plan), which was signed by President Biden, and then, of course, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law that we hope to continue to benefit from."

Stillwater Mayor Will Joyce, also in attendance, said these meetings can be especially helpful to smaller cities like his.

"We’re talking about making sure the federal dollars that are being disbursed are not passed over the middle part of the country," Mayor Joyce said in an interview. "It’s really kind of a competition, and you’ve got to have everybody pulling on the same rope, pulling in the same direction to get those funds where we need them."

Joyce was planning to meet with representatives of federal agencies during the visit to inquire about opportunities for additional federal help revamping the city's water system.

And certainly there is a social aspect to the USCM meetings. For Mayor Joyce, it's an opportunity to get to know the mayors of all the cities in the Big 12 Conference.

"I try to get around and meet all the other Big 12 mayors," Joyce smiled. "There’s a new mayor in Austin I haven’t met yet and some of the new cities coming in -- so, Cincinnati, Houston and Orlando, I think they are all here, so hopefully I’m going to get to make some connections there."

The meeting wraps up Friday with a visit to the White House and an address by President Biden.